Gary W. Herschman, Health Care Mergers and Acquisitions attorney, in the firm’s Newark office, was quoted in a Levin Associates article, titled “The Big Picture: What Is Driving Physician Practice M&A?” by Erin Laviola.
Following is an excerpt:
Levin Associates spoke with Dana Jacoby, the CEO and founder of Vector Medical Group, and Gary Herschman, a partner at Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., at the 6th annual Physician Transactions Conference in Las Vegas in March 2023. Their separate interviews have been combined into one Q&A, which has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. …
When you talk to physicians who are considering partnering with private equity, what is their reasoning?
Herschman: They see a lot of advantages with private equity. Major players in healthcare like Optum, MedExpress, Aetna, Village MD, and Walmart are all getting bigger, and hospitals are growing and acquiring doctors. Independent physicians find themselves with all these huge growing empires around them, and they need to be bigger and have more resources to compete. …
Many industry experts have told me that private equity investors tend to stay out of healthcare decisions. Has that been your experience? …
Herschman: There are common issues doctors always ask about: “Am I going to lose clinical control? Will the investor make us work harder or change our schedule? Will I have less vacation time or will my benefits be reduced?” The answer to these questions is “no,” and these details are all included in the final contract.
After closing a deal with private equity, what does change is now the practice has a corporate infrastructure of seasoned executives that handle the business end, including investing capital in new offices, new ambulatory surgery centers, and new expensive equipment like imaging.
